October 2011

October 25, 2011

I flipped a coin. Seriously. My father and I were trying to decide which division of General Motors should be my "sponsor" during my co-op work experience while attending GMI Engineering & Management Institute (Kettering University today). The choice was between Buick and AC, and AC won the flip. Weeks later, at a new student orientation at AC's headquarters in Flint, Michigan I met Orrin Woodward, a man who was later to become my business partner (of 17 years and running) and co-author of several best sellers. That was turning point number one.

Once ensconced at GMI I was terrified. I wasn't that in love with math and science and was truly outgunned by the smart people around me. I thought Mechanical Engineering had more to do with machinery and motion than math, but the professors seemed to think differently. So, out of fear more than anything else, I worked really hard and it paid off. One thing led to another and I realized I could probably shoot for a scholarship to grad school. So for at least four years (GMI was a 5 year program) I planned on winning a scholarship to Stanford. My plan worked and I won the scholarship. I also got accepted to Stanford. But I ended up attending Carnegie Mellon University instead. The reason for this sudden shift is too much for this article, but when I arrived at Carnegie Mellon I found Terri Estes waiting there. Soon she would change her name to Terri Brady. This was turning point number two.

There are others in my life, but I am sure you get the point. What may seem like little decisions at the time can have massive and lasting impact on the course of our lives. We change direction and go down a road from which we can never return.

The interesting thing about major turning points in our lives is that they are not always obvious. Let's face it, we make thousands of decisions a year. Some that seem major sometimes don't turn out to be. Some that seems minor can sometimes change the course of our lives forever. It is sometimes impossible to tell if the next decision will be a big one, leading to a turning point, or just another miniscule moment that will soon be lost under the dust of time and faded memories.

The lesson? Choose well at each decision. Never underestimate the potential of tiny things having big ramifications.

The lesson within the lesson? There really aren't that many major turning points in life. If you don't believe me, map out your own life by moving backwards through your circumstances. How did you end up living where you're living, working where you're working, married to whom you're married, etc.? If you trace it back, you'll likely find somewhere between 3 and 10 major turning points in your life, many of which you couldn't have seen coming.

An observation on these lessons: The most successful people (such as my buddy Tim Marks) seem to make decisions the quickest and with the least amount of angst, but then stick to those decisions with more tenacity than others. To me this is a strange paradox, but I've seen it demonstrated so many times I believe it to be the rule.

Conclusion: Turning points are rare but significant in your life. Choose wisely from the myriad of choices proffered to you each day, as any one of them could have unforseen and lasting implications. However, it is not necessary to become parlyzed or burdened by the decisions you'll face. Perhaps the worst thing to do is overanalyze. Go with your gut, pray for guidance, and stick to the directions you choose.

Laura: To claim your free prize of an autographed book (your choice of either the Launching a Leadership Revolution or the new LIFE book) simply comment on this article with a mailing address (which will remain private) and we'll send it over! Congratulations and thanks for playing!

October 07, 2011

My business partner and co-author Orrin Woodward and I, along with the other founders of Life, are embarking on a business journey in which we seek to follow correct principles, emulate successful leaders, and make a lasting difference in the lives of people. One leader to whom we've looked, and whose professional life we've admired, is Steve Jobs.

Orrin and Laurie Woodward and I were landing in Newark, New Jersey yesterday on a flight home from overseas when we got the word about Jobs' passing. It immediately caused me to do a mental mini-review of his life.

Steve Jobs literally revolutionized four industries:

1. computer industry - was initially involved in bringing personal computing to the masses, but was much more effective in making it user friendly and "cool" in the second phase of his professional life

2. music industry - through the innovation of iTunes, which solved the "music download" controversy

3. movie industry - through the successful incubation and establishment of PIXAR, and the rehabilitation of Disney

4. telecommunications industry - through the widespread popularity of the iPhone and iPad

Steve Jobs had that rare combination of business savvy (early bursts of it, but much more effective in his later, more mature years) and creative genius. In many ways, I place him in the same category as Walt Disney, who also combined creative genius with a sense for what would work economically. Jobs' creativity, vision, steadfastness to a central focus, and the ability to lead and inspire his troops to fulfill and implement the above, are worthy of study by anyone seeking business greatness. Let us also not forget that Jobs was a master salesman. He had a way of connecting with "his" audience, and they in turn connected with the rest of us.

As I sit here at my desk in my early morning "jet-laggedness," pondering the many wonderful people in my life, and considering the Life business journey we are about to take together, I give a hearty salute to the creative genius of Steve Jobs. May a little of his verve find its way into our venture, and may his ability to build a productive culture of enthusiastic teammates and customers be our example.

"There is no reason not to follow your heart. Stay hungry. Stay foolish."

October 04, 2011

Stone steps greet my weary feet once again, while the sun keeps up its constant beaming from above, pounding on my hat and searing my skin. The bag on my back, though small, irritates me from long companionship, and the camera that produces the pictures I so love is an annoyance. My senses are overloaded and my brain is full. It's been another full day of touring the Holy Land.

From Dan to Beer-Sheva, and Caesarea (Maritime) to En-Giev, we've covered this land. We swam in the Sea of Galilee and bobbed in the Dead Sea (this latter event so comical I couldn't stop giggling at the curious situation of lying on top of the water). We've surveyed archeological digs both old and new, gathered smooth stones from the Brook of Elah where David did so to the great chagrin of Goliath, and drove to the military installations along the borders of the Golan Heights. We passed through the Palestinian checkpoint at Jericho where the soldier there (Palestinian) was watering flowers. I've seen the Israeli soldiers, many of them young girls with cute pony-tails bouncing down the backs of their uniforms, toting AR 15 machine guns as if they were shopping bags. We have pushed through crowded, narrow market streets while the Muslim call to prayer boomed loudly from speakers mounted to minarets high above. I've seen monks in their brown robes with white ropes, nuns in their hobbits, and beggars of several faiths.

We walked into many an old church, usually constructed dead atop some Biblically important site, now entirely obliterated by the building meant to commemorate the very event it now obscures. Perhaps the most adventurous activity was wading through the narrow (and sometimes short) tunnel of Hezekiah, a 1750 foot wonder that snakes around back and forth under the old City of David and takes water from the Gihon Spring to the Pool of Siloam. This required feet that could withstand long exposure to the cold and still flowing spring water, a flashlight, and the ability to duck repeatedly, as well as a decent ability to fight off claustrophobia. But we all made it through, shamed by the 90 year old lady who soldiered through it with us without a word of complaint or even a slow step. Climbing the recently unearthed ceremonial staircase from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple Mount above (way above, I might add) turned into another spelunking adventure as we ended up squeezing between ancient ashlars that framed a drainage system (at least that was our best guess).

I've seen wild Ibex, commercially tamed camels one can ride for ten shekels, and prairie dogs with a fancier name which I now forget. There have also been cats, lots of cats, loose in every nook and cranny of these old cities. But everywhere and all the time there have been people. I have been all over the world, and have visited what I had previously believed to be some pretty crazy, diverse places. But I must admit, never in my life have I seen anything like Israel. Enemies exist in muted tension side by side. Radically different faiths fight for the same commemorative soil. Cultures crash like cars in a downtown intersection, with sounds and wounds just as loud and painful. I work my brain like a prize fighter trying to make sense of it all.

Israel, chosen by God to be the intersection of the world. Israel, today, as much as ever, upholding its duty to be the place where all the cultures flow together.

Our trip was billed as a study tour, and study tour it has been. Under the masterful tutelage of Dr. Doug Bookman from Shepherds Theological Seminary in North Carolina, we've been whisked around this mysterious land like the students in the classroom of Miss Frizzle, the zany but enthusiastic grade school teacher whose "Magic School Bus" transforms itself into whatever shape is needed to give the students a tactile, on-location lesson of the material being covered. With contacts in every corner of this land, Dr. bookman has us transported up to places like the half-built and then abandoned palace of Jordan's King Husain, which was begun in 1965 but quickly abandoned with the outbreak of the Six Days War in 1967. From it's ruined hulk, a place (to quote Dr. Bookman) where "Osha has never been," we could look out at the surrounding hills and almost see the Bible narrative that occurred there coming to life. While we pass other tour groups in silly kerchiefs and matching hats, we sneak around where people rarely go and take a look from off the beaten path.

Another joy has been traveling with long time friend and business partner Orrin Woodward and his wife Laurie. As we learn we discuss, and review and analyze. Learning is always more fun in concert with other minds equally enthused and invigorated with the lamp of growing understanding. Further, we've been in cahoots with a small team of others from California, Indiana, North Carolina, and Georgia, who have been as fun as they have been adventurous.

This tour is not over, but its days are rapidly ending. And as they close, I realize once again that the more I learn, the more there is to understand. Further mystery is always on the other side of new understanding, and these days in Israel have opened me to more wonder than I ever could have imagined. My appetite to study and learn even more about the foundations of my faith and the plan of God for this land is mightier than ever. My faith is stronger, my knowledge higher, and my camera fuller than when I began. And yes, my feet might throb as I drop into bed at night, but my mind races and my heart leaps at all that God has done.